Haneisen: Top 10 weather stories of 2008

This year will definitely go down as one marked by devastating storms and severe weather leaving no part of the country unscathed.

Rob Haneisen

This year will definitely go down as one marked by devastating storms and severe weather leaving no part of the country unscathed.

There were widespread wildfires in California, record drought in the Southeast, horrific tornadoes and floods across the midsection of the country, hurricanes along the Gulf Coast and ice and snow crippling parts of New England.

If you are a weather enthusiast like me (read my blog at blogs.townonline.com/weathergeek) there was no shortage of stories.

Here in Massachusetts and New England, it was a year that featured a very stormy summer. We had nearly twice the normal number of thunderstorms in the summer and a rare tornado that devastated parts of central New Hampshire. At the end of the year, statistics show what we had most of this year: rain. Hartford, Conn., set an annual rainfall record with 65.13 inches (that's almost 20 inches above normal). Worcester recorded 62.64 inches of rain (13.85 inches above normal) and Boston saw just over 54 inches this year - nearly a foot above normal.

The year also ended on a snowy note with 24 inches of snow falling in December - and that was before today's expected 3-6 inches. That's more than double the normal snowfall for December.

Speaking of snow, we ran a contest through the Weather Geek blog to predict the date of the first snowfall of 2 inches or more this year.

We have two winners: Cariann Steenbruggen predicted Dec. 17 and Maynard's Deb Roussell chose Dec. 18. On Dec. 17, we had a small storm that produced a mix of snow and sleet that quickly melted across the region. A 2-inch measurement was reported for Natick but I did not have a Framingham measurement. Then on Dec. 19, we received the first of two big snowstorms in three days with a solid 10 to 11 inches covering the region. So Deb Roussell's guess was closest to that storm.

I declared it a tie and Cariann will receive a 2009 weather watcher's calendar and Deb gets the 2009 Old Farmer's Almanac. Congratulations to both!

I like lists, especially subjective ones, because they inspire debate and conversation. So here's my top 10 list of weather events for 2008.

1. Hurricane Ike: This was the third most costly hurricane in U.S. history ($31 billion) behind Katrina and Andrew. It ran right over Galveston and Houston on Sept. 13 with 110 mph winds. The death toll could have been much worse if not for the lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Though tens of thousands of foolhardy residents hunkered down on the Texas coast, the storm killed only 82 people in the United States and 202 people are still missing. Downtown Houston had major damage, catastrophic flooding affected most of the coast and some parts of Texas were without power for weeks.

2. Hurricane Gustav: Many feared this was going to be Katrina Part II, but a last-minute jog in the storm track and a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans kept the death toll low when Gustav came ashore on Sept. 1. More than 1.9 million people fled Louisiana making it the largest evacuation in that state's history. Gustav had 110 mph winds when it made landfall and killed 43 people in Louisiana.

3. Midwest flooding: More than a foot of rain fell in the Midwest in June causing massive, widespread damage. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, appeared to take the worst hit and daily news coverage showed outposts of civilization surrounded by soggy, sandbagged walls.

4. Super Tuesday tornadoes: In the Midwest and South, 87 tornadoes killed 57 people on Feb. 5 in the deadliest tornado outbreak since 1985.

5. California wildfires: When lightning storms swept through tinder-dry California on June 20, they sparked an intense round of wildfires (more than 2,000) that charred whole sections of the state including the Big Sur.

6. New England ice storm: On the night of Dec. 11 and the morning of Dec. 12, nearly an inch of ice coated trees and power lines in central and northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Tree damage was massive and power companies struggled to restore power by Christmas. The cost will likely be huge. So far, New Hampshire utilities expect a price tag of $50 million to rebuild the electrical infrastructure. That figure does not include personal property damage and insured losses.

7. Tropical Storm Fay: Nearly 30 inches of rain fell on some parts of Florida and the storm was the first to make four different landfalls in the state from Aug. 18-23.

8. Boy Scout tornado: A group of Boy Scouts camped out near Omaha, Neb., on the night of June 11 were struck by an overnight tornado during one of hundreds of twisters that hit that spring. More than 40 scouts were injured and four killed when the cabin they sought shelter in collapsed. The death toll could have been worse if not for quick thinking by some of the Scouts.

9. New Hampshire tornado: On July 24, one person was killed and more than 100 homes damaged as a tornado carved a 21-mile path across 11 small towns in central New Hampshire.

10. Southeastern drought: It got so dry this spring around Atlanta that restaurants were recycling unfinished drinking water from tables and all eyes were on a shrinking reservoir that served the metro-Atlanta area. Rains late in the year helped ease conditions somewhat.

Rob Haneisen can be reached at rhaneis@cnc.com or 508-626-3882. Join the conversation about weather at blogs.townonline.com/weathergeek.